Overview
- Zeldin, the first EPA administrator to address Heartland’s annual gathering, told attendees Wednesday to “celebrate vindication” after revoking the 2009 finding.
- The rollback scrapped the Clean Air Act basis for regulating heat-trapping gases from cars and trucks and could unravel limits on power plants and oil and gas sites.
- States, environmental groups and Alaskan tribes have filed suit in U.S. District Court in Washington, arguing the action abandons EPA’s duty to protect health and leaves the agency without authority to set vehicle climate standards.
- Environmental advocates condemned Zeldin’s speech as promoting disinformation, while EPA officials said the agency is following sound science and refocusing on its core mission.
- Conference allies praised Zeldin’s regulatory reversals and urged President Trump to keep him at EPA as talk circulates that he is under consideration for attorney general.